10 golden rules for first-class. Chatbots, self-service and video tutorials can do a lot – but they certainly cannot replace personal customer service and telephone advice! The telephone will remain the most important communication channel between customers and companies in 2021. But a customer-friendly telephone number on the website is not enough: first-class telephone customer service needs a concept! Find out in this blog article how you can hit the mark with your customers with 100% professional telephone support – and leave your competition behind at the same time.
Telephone support remains the top dog in customer service
The telephone remains the most important communication channel for customer contact: . Customers prefer to pick up the phone especially when it comes to urgent or complicated matters (66%).
However, not only the available contact channels, but also the quality of customer service are an important factor in the choice of provider: almost every 9th customer states that the quality of customer support influences the purchase decision
First-class customer service over the phone therefore becomes a decisive competitive advantage – before, during and after the purchase!
The good news: It’s up to you whether your telephone customer service can convince your callers in the long term! We’ll show you step-by-step the most important adjustments to make your telephone support fit for the future.
Let’s go!
The 10 golden rules for perfect customer support on the phone
The most important step has already been taken: you have recognized the potential of excellent telephone customer service and now want to get the most out of your telephone support! If you tick off the following 10 steps, nothing will stand in the way of your service success.
Infographic: Celine Orgonyi for yuutel
1. Your callers can reach you free of charge on a professional service number.
With a professionalyour company is particularly customer-friendly: this is always free for callers – you, as the provider of the service number, cover the call costs.
This means that your company is easy and quick to reach for your customers – they feel valued and in good hands. Don’t forget: satisfied customers are happy to buy from you again and recommend your company to relatives and friends! A service number also appears trustworthy to the outside world and is equipped with many intelligent call management functions – more on that in a moment.
2. You can always be reached quickly and reliably during service hours.
Offering a service number is one thing – but it is much more important that your customers and partners can actually reach you reliably if the worst happens.
Professional service numbers offer to handle calls even new zealand phone number library when you are not there.
- Create a well-thought-out accessibility concept: Where should calls be forwarded if your main number is not available? Many useful make it easier to control incoming calls in a targeted manner.
- Actively accompany your callers through waiting times and intelligent voice dialog systems (IVR).
- Provide alternatives , such as a callback service or the option to leave a voice message.
3. Your calers feel well looked after even outside of service hours.
Very few companies manage to be available to their customers around the clock to the usual extent. That’s perfectly fine – as long as calls don’t go unanswered and your callers can still submit their concerns! A classic tool for this is the voicemail – and if you want to go the extra mile , offer a callback service .
The most important thing is transparency : Inform your callers about your service hours and contact options with a . To forward incoming calls on weekends, public holidays or during company holidays to an alternative call destination – such as an on-call employee or an external call center – you can use time-based routing .
4. Save time and money with automated call distribution.
Nobody wants to wait a long time on the phone or be passed from contact person to contact person:
- Withyou can automatically distribute incoming calls to different destinations, e.g. according to the caller’s geographical origin, date, time or percentage quotas.
- Give your callers the opportunity to narrow down their request themselves in a selection menu (IVR ) – at the touch of a button or .
- Link your customer database with your telephony system and use existing customer information to automatically forward calls to predefined target numbers (e.g. VIP customers, block lists, etc.).
5. Your callers will hear professional telephone announcements.
Really good customer service on the phone starts with a great phone greeting! So invest a little in this important first point of contact – after all, your customers and partners should feel comfortable from the first ring!
This is what matters in a well-designed telephone greeting:
- Provide all relevant information: Why are your callers hearing this message? Are there alternative contact options?
- Explain what happens next: Where will they be sms with non-western alphabets with trendoo you can connected? What happens if they exceed a certain waiting time?
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6. You make the waiting time on the phone as pleasant as possible.
Even if it is more than unpopular: professional telephone support cannot be done without a waiting loop.
Here’s how to make this waiting time as pleasant as possible for your callers:
- Communicate the remaining waiting time .
- If the volume of calls is high, offer a callback service : after leaving contact details, the caller will be called back by the company.
- Avoid annoying repetitions and deafening background music.
7. You evaluate your call data using statistics and thus continuously improve your service.
A look at the statistics and call data for your service number reveals how well your hotline is performing – and which adjustments you can make to canada data further optimize your customer service.
You should always keep an eye on these 5 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in telephone support:
- Number of support calls: How many calls do you receive? Are there recurring patterns and peaks in demand?
- Average response time: How long do customers wait for a response?
- First Call Resolution (FCR): How many customer inquiries can be resolved during the first telephone contact?
- Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT): How satisfied are your customers with the support?
- Net Promoter Score (NPS): Do your customers recommend your company?